Limited Coloured 2LP 180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl Reissue

Calculate Shipping

Notify me when back in stock

Falling Into Infinity is the fourth studio album by American progressive rock / metal band Dream Theater, released in September 1997 by EastWest Records.

Dream Theater formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to concentrate further on the band that would ultimately become Dream Theater. Though a number of lineup changes followed, the three original members remained together along with James LaBrie and Jordan Rudess until September 8, 2010, when Portnoy left the band. In October 2010, the band held auditions for a drummer to replace Portnoy. Mike Mangini was announced as the new permanent drummer on April 29, 2011.

The band is well known for the technical proficiency of its instrumentalists, who have won many awards from music instruction magazines.

Much of the material for Awake was written in writing sessions between February and April 1994, during which Dream Theater were under pressure from their record label to produce an album as successful as predecessor Images And Words (1992). The label wanted the band to produce a more metal-oriented album, hoping it would be easier to market. The album's cover, designed by the band, features numerous references to the album's lyrics.

Awake is the last Dream Theater album to feature original keyboardist Kevin Moore who was replaced by Derek Sherinian,

Released at the height of the popularity of grunge music, Awake initially received mixed reviews; more recent reviews regard the album as one of the band's finest.

It is the band's first and only studio album to feature keyboardist Derek Sherinian following the departure of Kevin Moore in 1994.

Falling Into Infinity was produced by Kevin Shirley. Due to the band's reluctance to follow record label's demands for a more radio-friendly album, the album's writing and pre-production phases were stressful periods for the band, and at one point almost led them to retire. It was recorded in June 1997 at The Power Station (now Avatar Studios) in Manhattan, New York. A commercial and critical failure, the album led to the band demanding to be free from record label interference for all future albums.

Falling Into Infinity was recorded at Avatar Studios in New York, a return from their previous album, which was recorded in England. It continued the more progressive metal sound Awake started, but to much less critical and commercial acclaim. LaBrie's limited vocal range after rupturing his vocal cords is shown on the album, with most of the vocals being in the lower range, in contrast to earlier releases, which were often high-pitched.

Despite Awake's relative success, the band was not quite happy with its darker sound, which resulted in the band going back to New York to record their new album. The record label pressured the band to write a more commercial album, much to the band's dismay. Falling Into Infinity was originally intended to be a 140-minute double album, but the record label refused to release such an album and even recruited Desmond Child to help the band re-write "You Not Me", which was originally titled "You Or Me", to make it more commercial.

Unhappy with the record label's meddling, this would be the last album to feature a traditional producer. Later albums would be produced from within the band. The album is also only one of the few Dream Theater albums to not feature the band's iconic font, as a result of graphic artist Storm Thorgeson's refusal to work with fonts other artists had made.

Falling Into Infinity has garnered mixed critical and fan acclaim. While not their finest moment it’s still a good album and thankfully the record company came to their senses and let the band run the show from there on.

In a FAQ on his web page Mike Portnoy said when asked what would he have done differently if in full control of the album:

“Well without too many details, If *I* had total control from the label in the making of that particular album, the biggest differences would have been: 1. It would have been a 2 CD set with *all* of the songs we wrote throughout '96/'97 (including the original Metropolis Pt.2) and 2. I would not have changed any of the arrangements from the demo versions... Most obviously being: “Burning My Soul”, “Take Away My Pain”, “Lines In The Sand” and “You Or Me”.”